Search for N.C. Mom Continues

In the nearly four months since a young North Carolina mother of two disappeared, her family has had one focus -- to bring home the daughter they fear is no longer alive.

Kelly Currin Morris, 28, was last seen on the night of Sept. 3, but she wasn't reported missing until the next day, when emergency workers responded to a blaze that destroyed the house she shared with her husband and two young daughters. The house was empty at the time.

Police have named her husband of about six years, William "Scott" Morris, a person of interest in the case.

Juanita Currin, Kelly Morris' stepmother, said she and her husband's greatest wish is "to find her and be able to lay her to rest. For her children to be able to know the truth."

And, she said, "for justice to be served."

According to search warrants, Scott Morris, 34, told police that he last saw his wife around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 3, when she left the house to search for a dog that had gotten loose.

Scott Morris told police that he took a shower and went to bed in a room separate from his wife's because he didn't want her to wake him up when she returned. But, according to the warrants, family and friends told police that the two, who had been having marital problems, had been sleeping separately before that night.

Pat Currin, Kelly Morris' father, said everyone knew the two were having problems -- his daughter even moved back home with her daughters for a few weeks last summer -- but that he never thought anything like this would happen.

But Juanita Currin stopped short of blaming Scott Morris for the disappearance, saying she preferred not to comment when asked if she thought he was responsible.

Scott Morris could not be reached for comment and messages left at a number for his parents' home -- where the search warrants indicated he was living -- were not returned. A number for his towing service was disconnected.

Conflicting Information

Though Scott Morris told investigators he had gone to bed after his wife left to look for the dog, the search warrant details a series of phone calls between him and his father, James "Jimmy" Morris.

Jimmy Morris told police, according to the warrants, that his son called him around 10 p.m. on Sept. 3 to ask him to be with the children while Scott Morris went to look for his wife, who he believed was cheating on him. The search warrants said Jimmy Morris did not mention the dog that Scott Morris told police about.

Cell phone records show that a phone call was made from Scott Morris' that bounced off a tower in a nearby town, suggesting to investigators that he was not at home at 10:59 p.m., in contrast to what he told police, warrants indicated.

According to the search warrants, time elements in Scott Morris' statements about the next morning -- that he met an acquaintance, went to a local Hardees and then to the BP station where he worked – did not match with video surveillance footage at the places he visited.

When he left the Hardees around 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 4, the search warrants said, surveillance video shows him heading toward his residence, not the direction he told police he took to get to the BP Station.

A 911 call was placed that morning at 11:19, reporting the Morris' home was on fire. The house was destroyed and the fire was later ruled to be caused by arson, according to the search warrants.